Dodgers veteran Chase Utley barely had to wait until December to re-sign with the Dodgers for $7 million with other suitors lined up, willing to sign a 37-year-old middle infielder coming off the worst season of his career.

Dodgers veteran Chase Utley has been a steady presence this season, starting 69 of their first 94 games at leadoff and manning second base.

‘I don't want to always be that guy, the teammate telling someone what to do. That's not the way to go about it,' said Dodgers veteran Chase Utley, left. ‘I think you play the game the way you think you should and hopefully some guys see how that can be beneficial and try to implement that into their game.'

If not for a June swoon that lopped more than 20 points off his batting average, Chase Utley's individual statistics this season would be in line with most of his career norms.

‘I don't want to always be that guy, the teammate telling someone what to do. That's not the way to go about it,' Dodgers veteran Chase Utley said. ‘I think you play the game the way you think you should and hopefully some guys see how that can be beneficial and try to implement that into their game.'

If not for a June swoon that lopped more than 20 points off his batting average, Chase Utley's individual statistics this season would be in line with most of his career norms.

LOS ANGELES – Baseball’s deep dive into statistical analysis has created a new language of exit velocities, launch angles, FIPs, WHIPs and BABIPs.

But this is another new concept courtesy of the analytics crowd – a 37-year-old “bounce-back candidate.”

Chase Utley posted career-lows across the board offensively last season. A .212 batting average, .286 on-base percentage, .629 OPS and only eight home runs in more than 400 plate appearances. Combined with the fact that he would turn 37 in December, the numbers seemed to scream of a player in decline. His 140 plate appearances with the Dodgers over the final two months of the season didn’t paint any prettier a picture (he hit .202 with a .654 OPS).

Utley’s long-time double-play partner, Jimmy Rollins, had similar numbers in those categories over a full season with the Dodgers last season and found himself unsigned until late February this spring when he accepted a minor-league contract offer from the Chicago White Sox. He made the White Sox’s roster and took a deep paycut (from $11 million to $2 million) only to be released in mid-June.

But Utley barely had to wait until December to re-sign with the Dodgers for $7 million with other suitors lined up, willing to sign a 37-year-old middle infielder coming off the worst season of his career.

“It was a couple things,” Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi said, explaining the thinking behind last winter’s most surprising decision by a front office that has advertised a desire to build a younger roster. “One, purely on the performance side, even when he was with us last year – he really had bad luck in that 150 at-bat sample. We looked at his hard-hit percentage, line drive percentage – that kind of stuff. It was actually very much in line with the numbers he’s putting up now. You would have thought he was a .280 to .300 hitter with .420 or .450 slug.

“I think he was viewed as a strong bounce-back candidate, that it (his poor offensive production) was going to be just one year.”

Utley did bounce back. The oldest leadoff hitter in baseball this year, Utley has started 69 of the Dodgers’ first 94 games there – and eased a massive problem. Last year, Dodgers’ leadoff hitters (primarily Rollins and Joc Pederson) combined for the lowest batting average in the majors (.233), one of the lowest OBPs (.319, 20th) and fewest runs scored (93, 24th). Those numbers this season are a healthier middle of the pack in the National League.

If not for a June swoon that lopped more than 20 points off his batting average, Utley’s individual statistics would be in line with most of his career norms.

“I still feel like I can contribute. That’s the bottom line,” Utley said of his own belief in his bounciness.

“Early in the (2015) season, first week or so, I felt like I was swinging the bat really well,” he said of his sub-par 2015, a season that started with him trying to play through an ankle injury suffered during an offseason workout. “For a couple weeks after that, even though I did swing the bat well I didn’t have a whole lot to show for it. At that point, I think it’s only natural to try to figure out a way to help your team. For me, I got out of what I’m most comfortable doing. Instead of trying to hit the ball hard I was trying to find places to hit the ball. And that didn’t work so well.

“I took some time off (a six-week stint on the DL at midseason) and got my body in more of a position to be successful. After that, I felt like I swung the bat okay, better than my baseball card would show. Obviously, I appreciate that they were able to see beyond that.”

For all their adherence to the measurables produced by an analytics department of unknown size but unquestioned influence, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and Zaidi also saw beyond Utley’s value in the batter’s box. When they re-signed Utley, they readily admit they were paying for intangibles as well.

“The leadership, the attention to detail he has for the game – it was a huge boost for us down the stretch and into the playoffs (in 2015) and was an important thing for us to get back,” Zaidi said. “He just has such a strong reputation that even if you didn’t get quite that (offensive) production there was a lot of value to having him on your team.”

The Dodgers expect to benefit from that value well beyond Utley’s one-year contract. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he “absolutely” sees Utley’s old-school influence impacting the Dodgers’ new wave of talent, young players like Corey Seager, Trayce Thompson and Joc Pederson.

“Unbelievable. I can’t even, don’t even know where to start,” Seager said when asked if Utley has had a positive influence on him. “He’s helped me on the field, off the field, in the clubhouse. Anything you can think or imagine I’ve asked him and he’s talked to me about.

“Just little things I’m picking up that people do, tipping pitches and little stuff that I personally never looked at that he’s shown me, tried to involve me. Obviously I’m a work in progress. I’m not awesome at it even when I know what he’s doing, the tipping or whatever.”

Seager said he followed Utley’s career while growing up in North Carolina. Now he finds his locker next to Utley’s in the Dodgers’ home clubhouse and becomes effusive when talking about the benefits that flow from that relationship, saying he believes “100 percent” that being Utley’s teammate will benefit his career.

“Just watching his at-bats, watching him grind through at-bats – I’m lost for words how impressive it is,” Seager said. “Watching him as a fan while I was growing up, you just think he’s this great player. He’s just that much better than everybody. But you watch him work – he grinds everything out, his attention to detail is off the charts.”

Utley acknowledges the responsibility he has to provide a positive role model for a future star like Seager as well as others, whether through words or action.

“For me, I don’t want to always be that guy, the teammate telling someone what to do. That’s not the way to go about it,” Utley said. “I think you play the game the way you think you should and hopefully some guys see how that can be beneficial and try to implement that into their game.”

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